Prof. Andreas Meyer to become Scientific Director of FRM II

The Research Neutron Source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) is welcoming a new Scientific Director. Physicist and TUM alumnus Prof. Andreas Meyer will take over from Prof. Christian Pfleiderer on 1 October 2026. Since 2021, Andreas Meyer has served as the German Associate Director of the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble.

Prof. Christian Pfleiderer (left) hands over to Prof. Andreas Meyer (right). © Laura Richter, FRM II / TUM © Laura Richter, FRM II / TUM

Prof. Christian Pfleiderer (left) hands over to Prof. Andreas Meyer (right). © Laura Richter, FRM II / TUM © Laura Richter, FRM II / TUM

Prof. Andreas Meyer will serve as Scientific Director of FRM II for a five-year term.

The research neutron source in Garching near Munich, as Germany’s most powerful research reactor, has provided an essential service for national and international scientists for decades. It is important that this potential and the high level of expertise at FRM II continue to be made available to the entire scientific community in the future.

TUM President Prof. Thomas F. Hofmann emphasised: “I am convinced that Prof. Andreas Meyer will successfully manage the diverse responsibilities at FRM II thanks to his scientific and technical expertise, international experience, and the necessary management skills. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Prof. Christian Pfleiderer for taking on the role of Scientific Director at short notice on 1 January 2024 and for having since contributed, with the utmost dedication, to steering FRM II through challenging times.”

Prof. Christian Pfleiderer took over as interim scientific director of the FRM II, effective from January 2024. His mandate was to successfully evaluate the scientific use of the neutron source within the MLZ and to further develop internal processes.

Prof. Andreas Meyer will become Scientific Director of the FRM II starting in October 2026. © Laura Richter, FRM II / TUM

Prof. Andreas Meyer will become Scientific Director of the FRM II starting in October 2026. © Laura Richter, FRM II / TUM

“Serving as Scientific Director of the FRM II has been a demanding and very fulfilling role. What has been achieved during this time is a testament to the efforts of the entire team – I would like to thank all my colleagues for their hard work,” says Christian Pfleiderer. “I am happy to now hand over to Andreas Meyer. With his scientific expertise, knowledge of the neutron community, and leadership experience, he is the right person to guide FRM II into the future.”

Christian Pfleiderer will remain associated with TUM as a professor and as Director of the Center for QuantumEngineering, and will continue to work closely with FRM II through his research.

Prof. Andreas Meyer is looking forward to his new role: “It is a particular honour for me to return to TUM as an alumnus. The FRM II is one of the most efficient neutron sources in the world. What makes it unique is its integration into TUM, a University of Excellence, and the cross-centre collaboration within the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum. My objective is to shape the future of the FRM II together with the whole team and to provide the national and international neutron community with first-class long-term research conditions.”

About Prof. Andreas Meyer:

Prof. Dr. Andreas Meyer has served as the German Associate Director of the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble since 1 October 2021 and is also Head of the Technology and Projects Division. An expert in the application of neutron scattering in materials science, he focuses on the dynamics and structure of metallic melts at very high temperatures and near the glass transition. Following his PhD, which was based on research conducted at the Nuclear Resonant Scattering Beamline at the ESRF, Andreas Meyer joined the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the USA, where he worked on the commissioning of a new neutron backscattering spectrometer. He subsequently obtained his habilitation at the Department of Physics at the Technical University of Munich.

In 2006, he became Director of the Institute for Materials Physics in Space at the German Aerospace Center in Cologne, in a joint appointment with Ruhr University Bochum. Since 2021, he has been the German Associate Director of the ILL. Throughout his career, neutron-based science has been a key component of Andreas Meyer’s scientific work. He has also represented the German neutron scattering community in various capacities, most recently as an elected member of the German Committee for Research with Neutrons.